B. was already well on in years when he found the grace of God, and became a happy Christian. In order to make up as much as he could for the time he had not spent in his new Master's service, he took advantage of every opportunity to speak to his customers about Him, and to bear witness to the grace of God which had saved him. Many and interesting were the experiences he had. The following is told by the lady who was used to his conversion.
B. had sold some of his pictures at the back door of a large mansion, and as he was leaving, so he related, he seemed to hear his Master say to him:
“B. go to the front door.”
He went, and at that moment a lady was coming out of the garden, and appeared to be very surprised at the courteous manner and the respectful salutation of the old man.
Hat in hand he approached her, and said,
“I beg your pardon, Madam, but what is that on your finger?”
“On my finger?” said she, surprised yet more at being accosted in this way, “do you mean my ring?”
“Yes, Madam; it is of gold, very precious and tried in the fire. It is round too, it has neither beginning nor end. It is like the love of Christ, very precious, it has passed through the fire of God's judgment for us, and it extends from eternity to eternity. It has neither beginning nor end. O, Madam, is your heart encircled by the love of Christ? If it is, then you are safe for all eternity.”
More surprised than she dared to show, the lady tried to detain the old man to ask him some questions, but it was useless.
“No, thank you, Madam, all the same,” he replied, “my Master wanted me to give you this message. I cannot stay. But there is a young lady in this town who spoke to me about Jesus, my Savior, and she will speak to you, if you ask her.”
He gave her my name and address, and the next day I received the following note:
“Dear Madam, I should be much obliged if you would kindly visit me at your earliest convenience. I shall be at home tomorrow morning. Please excuse me for troubling you.”
I knew the house perfectly well, but did not know the lady at all, nor had I the remotest idea of what had led to the note, so that the first words of our meeting were a total surprise to me.
“Let me tell you at once,” she said, “that I had a very strange interview the day before yesterday with a man who was selling pictures.” And she told the simple story just related.
“But,” she added in a tone, and with an expression that I shall never forget, “God must have sent him to me as His messenger at that very moment, for the doctor had just told me that I had cancer.” After a short pause, she continued,
“And I must die! My home will be broken up, I must leave my family, and—and—I am not ready! It was a terrible shock to get such news, and I went into the garden with despair at my heart. On returning to the house, I met that man who I thought was a tramp, and I heard these words which I shall never forget.” Then clasping her hands, she added:
“O, is it true? Is it true that God loves me, me? And that Jesus Christ cares about my soul? Tell me, O, tell me something to help and to comfort me! You teach the poor, try to teach me. Begin at the very beginning, will you not? O, is the love of Christ for me?”
I asked for a Bible. She rang for a maid, who brought one, and we sat down together, and read one passage after another, telling of the free salvation which God has prepared for all sinners through the perfect redemption made by Christ on Calvary. All those invitations of the mercy of God seemed to her perfectly beautiful. To her, the finished work of Christ was absolutely new:
“It is too wonderful,” she said again and again, “It is too wonderful!” Two verses especially took her attention:
The dinner-bell put an end to our conversation, but only after we had promised to meet the next day. After a few more such meetings with our Bibles in our hands, the full light of redemption and forgiveness shone into her soul, and peace and joy filled the heart that had been the prey of indifference all the years of her life, and of awful anguish the last few days.
“And now,” she said one day, with the vivacity so natural to her, “now, we must make this good news known. I never knew these things before, although I have often been to church. I am sure my neighbors don't know them.”
“What makes you think they don't?” I asked.
“Why, they never talk about them. They never said a word to me on that subject. I am sure their lives would be different, if they knew that Christ died for them. No, they don't know it! And the poor in the village must hear it too. Will you help me to make the good news known?”
She then proposed to change a beautiful large room into a meeting-room, and to invite all her neighbors, rich and poor alike, to come and hear the gospel of God's grace once a week. The meeting continued for two years, and a great revival was wrought by the Spirit of God.
This true story is told in the hope that the reader, too, may simply trust the Savior, just as that lady did. Do not forget that the One who gave effect to the message of a poor picture-peddler, can and does use a modest booklet to carry His glad tidings to those who are willing to listen. Hear what the greatest of the Apostles wrote:
May those who are the Lord's, be willing to spend and to be spent for the Lord who has done so much for them, and for the spread of the gospel, that others may know Him. The time is short to serve Him thus.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:5858Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58).
“Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.”